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Rendell can't spin away Hsu

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Sunday, Sept. 23, 2007
 

HARRISBURG

Capitol observers were astounded when Gov. Ed Rendell called Democrat fundraiser Norman Hsu, a felon and then-fugitive, "one of the best 10 people I've met." They're likely more astounded now.

Rendell made the comment to The Philadelphia Inquirer; it became instant fodder for Capitol insiders. If Mr. Hsu is on the governor's Top 10 list, who else is on the list?

Incredibly, Rendell last week backed off the statement at his first Capitol news conference since the Hsu scandal surfaced. The governor threw in a heavy qualifier.

"First of all ... let me be clear: I said he was one of the 10 best people I've met in the field of political giving."

You've got to be kidding. Three weeks after one of the nation's leading newspapers quoted him on "best people" he now tries to correct the statement• Why didn't he ask The Inquirer for a correction or clarification the day it was published• Tom Fitzgerald, a top-notch Inquirer reporter, took the statement out of context• No way.

Rendell is spinning.

When Rendell made the statement, Hsu had just been exposed as a fugitive, 15 years on the lam. Hsu had pleaded no contest to a business fraud charge in California in 1991. He failed to appear for sentencing in 1992. He somehow eluded the authorities, blending into the garment industry in New York City. Only when several national newspapers made a connection between Hsu's criminal past and his role as a bundler extraordinaire for leading Democrat candidates did Hsu decide to face the music in California.

Hsu raised or donated hundreds of thousand of dollars to top Democrats, including presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and, of course, Ed Rendell.

But then Hsu, who had posted $2 million bond, failed to show for a court appearance to turn in his passport. He briefly became a fugitive again and forfeited the bail.

Until that time, Rendell was one of the few Democrats to stand by Hsu and he refused to give back $37,866.

That's the context in which he called Hsu "one of the best 10 people" he'd met. Rendell later said Hsu's failure to show was problematic and that he would give the money to charity.

Hsu was apprehended in Colorado; his bail now is $5 million. A spokesman for Hsu said he intended to show up for the California hearing but was "sick and confused."

Rendell knew going into last week's news conference he would be hammered with the "10 best people" quote. He tried to deflect it.

Here is the full quote published by The Philadelphia Inquirer on Aug. 31:

"I want to hear him (Hsu) out; I don't want to be one of the guys to pile on. Norman Hsu's one of the best 10 people I've met. He raised money for me because he believes in all the things we're doing and he never asked for a bloody thing -- not a job, not a contract, not (even) to attend a wedding."

It is possible the context for the "best 10" was, generally speaking, the political world. But Rendell never said in The Inquirer story, one that everyone at the Capitol read, that Hsu was one of the top 10 political donors he ever met.

And if that's what Rendell really meant, he looks sillier than ever now: On Thursday, Norman Hsu, political donor/bundler extraordinaire, was named in a federal criminal complaint alleging massive violations of campaign finance law involving a $60 million fraud.

 

 

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